Some Central New York Red Cross volunteers want to help in Gulf Coast, but weather won't cooperate

The changing weather patterns of Hurricane Isaac have prevented at least two Central New York Red Cross volunteers from providing much help yet.

Paul Killius, of Liverpool, volunteers as a bulk supervision supervisor, making sure supplies of food and equipment are available once the shelters are set up. The problem is that the weather in Baton Rouge, where he arrived Tuesday, has been too severe to go outside. Instead, he has “just hunkered down” in a shelter today with eavacuees from the area.

The shelter where he is staying has a few more days of supplies that were gathered before the storm hit. Once the heavy rain and winds die down, he will be able to get to the task of bringing in more supplies, he said.

For Dan Murphy, of Skaneateles, the problem has been the opposite. He arrived in Tampa, Fla., on Friday. When the weather there wasn’t as severe as expected, he was sent west to Tallahassee, Fla., on Monday, and the situation was similar.

“We’ve been kind of stuck here because the storm didn’t go where it was supposed to go,” he said.

The past couple of days, he has been in a hotel, taking some Red Cross refresher courses to pass the time. Thursday, he’s going to Hattiesburg, Miss., where he hopes the weather will be bad enough so that his skills will be needed providing food and services to evacuees at a shelter — but not so bad to keep him from getting there.

“The whole problem is that where the storm was supposed to go and where it went are two different things,” he said.